Yellowstone National Park

In Yellowstone National Park today the wind was blowing cold air, snow and rain into my face as I stood in Lamar Valley and watched as the “new” Lamar Canyon pack, two adults and six pups, made their first public appearance in their valley. The pack visited an old carcass, ran, played and hunted a 7-point bull elk.

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk, who was able to end years of litigation over a winter-use plan for the park, has been honored by the National Parks Conservation Association for his achievements during a nearly four-decade career with the National Park Service.

For years, many conservationists have worried what grizzly bears in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem will eat as changing climate and habitat conditions bring fewer whitebark pine nuts, cutthroat trout and other prime food sources. A recent study offers an answer: almost anything else.

A unified approach to managing the country's wilderness areas has been agreed to by the land management agencies under the Interior and Agriculture departments, with goals of connecting more people to wilderness areas and completing wilderness inventories of lands that might be suitable for inclusion in the wilderness system.

Think it'd be nice to spend some time relaxing this winter in Death Valley, or maybe in Sedona, or perhaps in Wyoming right outside Yellowstone National Park? Those destinations could be on your calendar if you're the winning bidder in a fund-raising auction for Friends of Saguaro National Park.

After 50 years, you would expect that the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), which administers the largest inventory of wilderness in the world, would have the best wilderness management program in the world. But, you would be very wrong.

As we told you last month, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis has given his superintendents the OK to increase entrance and other fees in their parks once they've conducted the requisite public outreach and engagement. While many fees are likely to increase by $5 or $10, there could be more creativity into fee collections aimed at generating more money for the parks.

Whether climate change is adversely impacting wolverines, something the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes is uncertain, is being challenged by a coalition of conservation groups that is suing the agency to provide Endangered Species Act protection to the small carnivores.

Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates lodges and restaurants in some of the most iconic national parks in the system, on Wednesday announced it was suing the National Park Service over its handling of concessions contracts on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.

A public opinion poll of key Western states has produced somewhat contradictory results when it comes to federal lands in those states. While strong numbers voiced positive views of agencies such as the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, strong numbers held their state governments in higher esteem than the federal government. Overall, though, a slight majority opposes proposals to turn those federal lands over to the states.

Confusion, misspoken words, and fear mongering swept the public lands landscape this past week following word that the U.S. Forest Service was planning to squash your right to snap a photo in the woods if you didn't pony up $1,500 for a picture-taking permit. The uproar stemmed from a poorly worded Federal Register notice, and was fanned by media worried about their First Amendment rights and very possibly by federal government critics.

Late September and early October, they say, are the best times to while your day away hoping to hook into one of the brown trout that call Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park home. And one of the best ways to reach the lake for some fishing is via the Lewis RIver Channel Trail.

Yellowstone National Park has released its annual Wolf Report, which describes the status of wolves in the park and management plans and activities for that species. According to the report, the overall wolf population in the park is up slightly from 2012, similar to previous recent years, and down about 45 percent since 2003.

It very likely will be a bit more costly to enter Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Acadia, Shenandoah and the other 126 units that charge entrance fees by the time the National Park Service's centennial arrives in 2016, and you also should brace for slightly higher fees to camp, shower, paddle, and participate in boat and cave tours.

It's been 50 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed The Wilderness Act into law in 1964, but the question remains: Why has so much land within the National Park System not been designated as wilderness?

Just weeks after a visitor crashed a drone into Yellowstone National Park’s largest hot spring, park officials have filed criminal charges against the alleged pilot, and are stepping up their efforts to publicize and enforce a ban on unmanned aerial vehicles in the park.

William H. Jackson was a photographer on the now famous Hayden Geological Survey of the Yellowstone region in 1871, and his images are often cited as an important factor in the campaign to have the area established as a national park. In 1938, at the age of 94, W. J. Jackson returned to the park for a visit, and an old report about his trip offers some fascinating insights into the Hayden Survey and how times have changes in the world of photography.

Geology factors into many units of the National Park System, but there are some parks that rise above all others if you have an interest in the geologic past...and present. What follows is a short list of some of the most geologically fascinating parks in the system, though we're sure you can add others.

Is the National Park System in danger of turning into a catchall system? Should a site dedicated to the nuclear arms race, another to union organizers, and another to First Ladies really fall under an agency that started out preserving spectacular vistas and landscapes, that showcases Yosemite, Yellowstone, and the Grand Canyon?

News that the National Park Service wants to consider whether grizzly bears should be restored to the North Cascades ecosystem in Washington state is a big step towards bolstering the region's ecological integrity, but recent events surrounding the Endangered Species Act raises questions about whether the Park Service can succeed if it decides grizzly recovery is in the ecosystem's best interests.